I Could tell you everything that happened before 2036, but why bother? It's the events after that year that matter. I'll tell you the story, but remember. It's not for the faint of heart. I can tell you the story, but do you really want to hear?

Really?

Alright.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

In 2031, I worked in a small company in New York City. Pay wasn't great, barely kept my family fed, but it payed the bills, which most people thought were ridiculous. The bills in early years like 2006 or 2015 were nothing compared to these. There were payments on everything. And I mean everything. Not just the house and car, but everything. You had to pay more for the office you worked in than it would take to buy a house. Of, course we got paid a lot more, but what did it matter? Altogether, we had about twenty dollars in spending money out of the millions we earned. How did we get food? Oh, the Governments gave us that. Yeah, I said Governments. As in plural. After 2012, every country joined together as one superpower. States and cities were still separated, but we were all governed by the same Government. The Governments gave us enough food to last a week. Only one week. No extra. People that stole extra were shot on live television. We technically lived in poverty. Aside from our payment, we had run down homes. The Government's officials got the luxury homes. By 2033, The Governments had a very tight grip on everything we did. From what we ate, to who we married. The Governments were classified in districts. For example, China had a district, America had a district, Russia, Germany, and so on. As long as they followed the generally oppressive rules, the districts could do anything to their country. That is, until China took it too far.

A Chinese man stole extra food for obvious reasons. But the Governments decided that his entire family should be punished. And so, the man's entire family was blindfolded and taken to the camera crew. When I say blindfolded, I mean they had a sort of sack type thing on their heads. They were then crippled. The Governments did this by cutting the Achilles tendon in each heel. These people had no anesthetics, so they were in horrible pain the entire time. The entire process was being filmed and broadcast to every TV set in the world. From blindfolds to execution. After being crippled, any friends of the family were brought up to watch. Of course, the last step was the actual execution. Now, before I continue, you must know. Executions were always this violent, but they were only used when a serious crime had been committed. Not for any theft. Theft was usually taken care of with a prison sentence. But not an execution. The execution set the entire world on edge. People thought the China district would be punished for the unfair deaths of the family, but the other districts did absolutely nothing. People waited for redemption, but none came.

In 2034, People began speaking out against the Governments. And every " drugged-up anarchist" As the Governments officials called them, was sentenced to execution. See, the governments had a pretty good hold on us. But they were not going to lose it. Any talk of rebellion was punished with an immediate death sentence. The executions were televised with a warning saying how anyone plotting rebellion or rebellious acts would suffer the same way the last guy did. People back off after a few people were killed. But soon, they were back to plotting rebellion. The " Rebels" had only been planning, or talking about rebellion, but that didn't stop the Governments from killing them.

Then, against all odds, China struck back.

They rebelled against their district. Hundreds of thousands of people attacked the Governments building and killed their district leader. They went to attack other leaders, but by the time the Chinese leader died, security forces had the other leaders protected. After the rebellion, the Chinese district quickly appointed a new leader, as if nothing had happened. Anyone that had participated in the rebellion was executed, which dropped China's population by thousands. Thousands were executed just for talking about it. Problem was, people were now angry. They wanted to fight back. Security around the Governments building got progressively tighter. But people didn't care. The people revolted against the Governments, but with heavy resistance. Even with this new security, however, the French and American leaders were killed. That's when the Governments declared war. I remember that. It was terrible. There were small skirmishes in cities around the world, but for the most part, The battles were around the Governments building. I'm going to read off a letter from a rebel soldier.

" They keep shooting at us. Nonstop. We have useless weapons such as gardening tools and mechanics tools. They aren't working against those machine guns and sniper rifles. I've lost track of how many of my friends are dead. Matt went missing and Zach and Carter were shot to death. Our weapons break and we have no armor. They bomb our bases and bring tanks into the fight, but somehow, we have the willpower to survive. Our wives and children have been taken to execution. I was lucky enough to not have either. I guess that's a good thing. Anyway, that's what's happening here. What's happening over there? Is your brother safe? Tell me everything when you get back. Alright."

Douglas Coltran, 46th rebel regiment.

If you were wondering, Coltran was shot to death, along with the entire 46th regiment, seven hours after writing that note. He was only twenty-three. Many soldiers were younger than thirty, but that didn't stop the Governments. They killed kids younger than three. They thought that all the genocide would stop the rebels, but it just made them fight harder. At this point, the Governments didn't care about the good of others. They kidnapped wives and children and killed or tortured them on live television. For the most part, people only fought harder. But some soldiers couldn't take seeing their family die. Some went insane, others took the quick way out and committed suicide. The insane ones were hallucinating. I remember that. This next letter was from a rebel in Kentucky. He was describing the way one of the insane soldiers acted.

" There are dead all over. Not just from the fighting, but some have killed themselves. I still have to fight. I've seen what the Government soldiers do. They slaughter our families just to set us off. One man started crying, yelling the name of wife.She had been executed earlier that morning. He was screaming for her, and eventually he went crazy. He picked up a switchblade and started stabbing himself. In the legs in the arms, everywhere. Others tried to stop him, but he kept screaming and slashed at whoever tried to help. He eventually bled to death. His body was ripped to shreds from what he had done. This is what the war is causing. Both sides are losing. Is it this bad over there?"

Jonathan Lensford, 106th rebel regiment.

Lensford died from a burn caused by a Government bomb. He was twenty-one. Some soldiers didn't kill themselves went they went insane. Some other letters describe people who just gave up. Who sat in a corner quietly mumbling the names of their dead loved ones. It was this type of psychological warfare that gave the Governments the upper hand in the war. The soldiers couldn't take the pain of losing the people they loved. The Governments knew this, and exploited that weakness. They wanted the people to go insane or kill themselves. But then, the soldiers found a weakness in the Governments. The leaders of the districts were leading the whole operation, so rebels started hitting the buildings they operated in. At first, the only leader killed was Russia's, but soon, rebels were stealing Government secrets and weapons, their tactics got better. Then Japan's leader was killed and then a few more from smaller countries. But the Governments kept fighting back, and the rebels were losing soldiers. Then the rebels found a weak point so fragile, no one had known it existed. A supreme figure, a president of sorts, who controlled everyone else below him. The rebels planned for months and finally struck the Governments building once again. The end result was a death toll of over ten thousand and the president dead. Now, the Governments building was in ruins. Bombs had gone off and torn walls to pieces. Bullet holes dotted the whole place. Ankle high pools of blood flowed through the halls. Bodies were everywhere. Most of which were so disfigured you couldn't tell they were human. The remaining Governments workers tried to run from the rebels, but they were caught and executed in the same way that they had executed everyone else. That's when the rebels took over. Anyone who worked for the Governments was found and captured. If you had retired from the Governments over twenty years ago, they locked you up for life. If it was less, you were killed. The surviving Government leaders tried to rebuild a Government by appointing new leaders, but the rebels found out. This was how " Shadows" were created. Shadows were rebel assassins that found and killed the Government leaders. Shadows were trained in many different forms of combat, including one style of fighting that paralyzed the opponent by targeting and killing the nerves. They were given the best weapons, but they were never seen using firearms. I'm not sure if they weren't allowed to, or if they just didn't. Either way, they were the best. Because of Shadows, the government was reduced to nothing, and the rebels had won. In 2036, the war on Government was over.

Then the blackout came.

All electrical power ceased to work. Cars wouldn't start, phones wouldn't work, nothing would work. The reasons this happened could be traced back to pollution. There was so much pollution in the air that it began messing with technological devices. There was so much that there wasn't anything we could do about it. Pollutants had literally become part of the air itself. This, of course, was known as the blackout. After this happened, we had to survive. We couldn't rely on technology anymore. I'm not exaggerating when I say that some people went insane just like the soldiers who lost their families. The idea of no technology was completely foreign to them. But the rebels didn't want anyone else to die. They had seen enough death during the war. They took anyone who could hunt and told them to hunt as much as possible. Soon enough, they had enough food. Anyone who could grow food was told to grow as much as they possibly could. This provided enough for the people. Not to mention anything that was left from Government supplies. Everyone knew that the guns would run out ammo eventually, but they used all they could to hunt. When the ammo ran out, bows and arrows became common weapons. People reverted to a type of native american lifestyle. Buildings such as the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building were forgotten and left to ruin. People made houses out of mud and clay, or sticks, or rocks. Clothes were made from animal skins, or even woven grass.

Tribes began to form. But they never fought. Ever since the rebellion, people had a sort of friendship with each other. They traded and thrived with each other. But it wasn't enough. Soon people began to die from new sicknesses. Without technologies, the herbal medicines wouldn't combat the disease like they should. People began to die. Soon only a handful of people were left. I leave this story for the next humans. For I know that people will return to a new earth. Old cities will no longer exist and the memories of this age, all but lost. We will return, and advance just like this age. And then the cycle will repeat.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.